Prepping to fly:
25 ft of cord for fin can/apogee side....15ft of cord for main/nose cone side...all 1/4 in. tubular Kevlar.
One end tied to Y-harness in fin can...other end utilizes quick link for av-bay. Main tied to NC harness & quick link to av-bay.
Main [52in X-chute, Topflight a standard 45 would also work] is attaches via quick link, to loop tied in shockcord 2 ft from front. Folded burrito style in a 12in square nomex. I could not get a 40 in.Recon to fit, so went with above.
To insure main does NOT get stuck in NC, be sure to place all shock cord in FRONT of chute. This will help "pull" chute out of NC.
Insert the folded chute into NC with closed end facing ejection charge, thus preventing burns to chute. Insert shear pins & done.
WORD OF CAUTION:
There is a lip on inside of NC, be sure the cord,or edge of nomex does not get caught on this lip between it and coupler, if it does the coupler will not seat tight. As simple as this sounds, I missed it, and couldn't figure out why I could not close up tight. Several times of removing & replacing the coupler, before the lightbulb came on & I figured it out!:face palm:
Highly recommended a 12-15in drogue is used for apogee!
This will prevent the rocket from "streamlining" during descent from apogee & keep the main/NC above the fin can . The fin can is so large in comparison to the payload [just NC] it "may" try to stabilize and come down ballistic dragging the NC at a very high rate of speed, with violent main deploy and very bad results!
By using the small drogue, the fin can drops perfectly vertical below the NC/chute and will land much closer to the pad. A regular DD rocket, the payload tube/NC will create drag and keep a drogue less rocket from stabilizing during descent.
Sooo........ fin can side has a 12in drogue wrapped burrito style in a 9x9 nomex attached 3 feet below the ac-bay/NC, leaving enough room between for my tracker to be taped to shock cord.
Word on that:
Comm_Spec transmitter should have the battery taped in before closing the lid. One wrap will suffice & keep battery from losing contact in case of overzealous ejection charge.
Transmitter has antenna coming out of box flush on one side. This side should be against shock cord when taping to it.
wrap transmitter entirely to cord, but leave antenna wire free. I use electrical tape...NEVER.....NEVER...EVER use masking tape of ANY kind!
I fold and pack shock cord into fin can, followed by nomex/drogue with tracker in last.
Last in.......first out.
You will notice a jump in signal when apogee happens, a plus when flying high enough you cannot see the event.
Rather than stuffing in tracker & antenna, I gently fold or loop the wire, so it is above everything with less chance of becoming tangled.
I used 1 gram BP in nose for main & 1.4 for apogee.